Forestry

As one of many forestry communities seeking to emerge from the pall hanging over the pulp and paper industry, Hearst has taken its first step towards a new economy with the first stage of its Bio-Com project.

Although the first iteration of the province’s Demand Response (DR) program is coming to a close in the coming weeks, its involvement with the forestry industry is being hailed as a success by at least one of the participants.

It started out as a way to promote their taxidermy business. The Manitoulin Island home of Rita and Terry Gordon has since evolved into a popular gathering place for campers, cyclists, hikers, stargazers and those who enjoy a good midnight wolf howl.

Onerous stumpage fees are being blamed for the indefinite shutdown of a Sault Ste. Marie hardwood mill. Boniferro Mill Works issued layoff notices to 41 employees, April 27.

Golfers hoping to take a swing at the annual Frog’s Breath Charity Golf Tournament and Social event will have to wait as this year’s has been cancelled.

A Chapleau Information Technology company is going green with a cedar sawmill project that could create value-added forestry jobs by year’s end. Cree-Tech Inc.

A new coating for wood products is being heralded by Grant Forest Products as a “big breakthrough” for the OSB (Oriented Strand Board) producer now ramping up production at its new $20-million coated structural board mill in Earleton.

While mill closures roll through the forestry sector, the Wilderness Group is diversifying and creating new jobs as a result of a $1 million loan from the provincial Northern Ontario Grow Bonds program.

Working better and smarter is the primary reason for constructing a new $3.2 million fire management headquarters in Cochrane according to a Ministry of Natural Resources official.

David Ramsay expects to see some re-greening in Northern Ontario’s forestry industry. The Natural Resources Minister predicts the industry will look very different from today in the coming years.